Japanese Disneyland.

My recent business trip to Japan came with plenty of tourism that took place before I got down to work. But of course it did, for I was showing the country to the younger generation for the first time. Now, the best kind of tourism for me personally is the high-octane adventurous kind (like in Kamchatka, Altai, or even more extreme places) and mostly involving lots of trekking – sometimes up volcanoes. But that’s hardly suitable for kids now is it? So what was I going to do with them in Japan (after our warm-up at Fuji Safari Park)? So I turned to the internet for advice, and a quick search gave me the answer quicker than you could say Mickey Mouse: take them to Tokyo Disneyland!…

It sure isn’t the biggest, most attraction-packed of the six Disney theme parks in the world, but for a one-day visit – there’s more than enough fun to be had…

The big problem with any theme park the world over though is all the queueing you have to do for the rides. And Tokyo’s Disneyland is no exception: we waited between 30 and 90 (!) minutes for each attraction…

Fast-track tickets are available – which we duly procured – but they don’t seem to apply to all rides. And they don’t fast-track you through the dense crowds shuffling about everywhere you go ->

Sure, it’s all kids’ stuff, but I did enjoy some of the attractions myself – particularly the Haunted Mansion ->

Ooh – I’ve found a cool vid of the Haunted Mansion. The narrative you hear as you wind your way through the “Mansion” is of course, as you can hear, all in Japanese, but that didn’t take away from the fun ->

Curiously, some visitors were sat down on the concrete floor of open spaces on mats they’d brought with them ->

More and more folks start doing the same – sitting down on the floor on their mats ->

Later it all became clear: they were simply installing themselves at good vantage points in anticipation of the daily procession-show. The very best spots get occupied some two or even three hours beforehand! ->

More and more folks on the floor:

Getting really busy…

And finally, here comes the parade – bubblegum-colored, interactive… really quite the performance. Almost as good as our yearly birthday bash ) ->

Aha – I recognize them ->

…But not many of the others ->

Tony the Tigers? ->

No comment:

The procession lasted a full 20 minutes.

The locals were loving it – as were my kids…

The Japanese are perfectionists. They always take things to the maximum level/quality – including fanaticism regarding Disney cartoon heroes ->

The Show Must [and Does] Go On! ->

The show’s sponsor:

I’d actually been here once before – only it was rather different in terms of the parade-show. It was way back in 2012 – on October 30. Yes: Halloween, with everyone in fancy-dress costumes! ->